The Ecclesial Fruit of the Eucharist in St.Thomas Aquinas

18 Pages·2004·0.14 MB·English

Nova et Vetera,English Edition,Vol.2,No.1 (2004):43–60 43
The Ecclesial Fruit of the Eucharist
in St.Thomas Aquinas*
GILLES EMERY, OP
University of Fribourg
Fribourg,Switzerland
CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGY has generally sought,in ecclesiol-
ogy as well as in sacramental theology,to highlight the relationship between
the Church and the Eucharist.The work of Henri de Lubac is well-known
for its important achievements in this rediscovery,especially with respect to
the now-famous formula: “The Church makes the Eucharist, but the
Eucharist also makes the Church.”1This organic relationship between the
Eucharist and the Church,whose unity flows from the Eucharist itself,is
at the heart of St.Thomas Aquinas’s theology of the Eucharist.Thomist
authors generally have not failed to recognize this fact.2Thus it was with
St.Thomas that Cardinal Journet showed that the grace or effect produced
by the Eucharist is “the secret unity of the Church.”3The ecclesial fruit-
fulness of the Eucharist,a theme present in the teaching of the Council of
* Translation by Therese C.Scarpelli,of “Le fruit ecclésial de l’Eucharistie chez S.
Thomas d’Aquin,”Nova et Vetera72 (1997):25–40.
1 Henri de Lubac,Méditation sur l’Église (Paris:Aubier,1953),113;cf.129:“Au sens
le plus strict,l’Eucharistie fait l’Église.”A critical study of this double relationship
in the writings of Henri de Lubac is found in Paul McPartlan, The Eucharist
Makes the Church:Henri de Lubac and John Zizioulas in Dialogue(Edinburgh:T&T
Clark,1993),1–120.
2 Aloysius M. Ciappi, “Eucharistia: Sacramentum unitatis Ecclesiae apud D.
Thomam et posteriores theologos OP”in La Eucaristía y la Paz.XXXV Congreso
eucarístico internacional 1952:Sesiones de estudio,Vol.1 (Barcelona:Planas,1953),
282–86.
3 Charles Journet, L’Église du Verbe Incarné, vol. 2 (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer,
1951), 671; see “Le mystère de la sacramentalité,” Nova et Vetera 49 (1974):
161–214,especially 203–4.
44 Gilles Emery, OP
Trent,4 was especially highlighted in the Second Vatican Council:The
sacrament of the Eucharist representsand effectsthe unity of the faithful who
form one single body or one single people in Christ.5
The Church celebrates the Eucharist and the Eucharist effects the
Church’s unity.These two statements are not at exactly the same level.
Even though the first possesses a priority of exercise,the second expresses
the mystery of the Church and reveals its very soul.This article will
sketch the teaching of St.Thomas regarding this second statement.
The Ecclesial Dimension in All Aspects of the Sacrament
The ecclesial dimension first appears in all aspects of St.Thomas’s analysis
of the sacrament,whose symbolism and efficacy require,in a dynamic way,
the adoption of a three-level structure:first,the sign itself;then the inter-
mediary reality which is at once the sign and first effect of the sacrament;
and finally the reality of grace effected and signified by the sacrament.The
great scholastics (for example,St.Albert and St.Bonaventure) agree in the
general application of this structure and acknowledge the mystical Body
as the fruit of the grace of the Eucharist.6Thus the principal elements of
the doctrine which Thomas inherits are already in place,but the unfold-
ing of this doctrine in his own theology deserves special examination.
The sensible sign of the Eucharist (sacramentum tantum)
On the level of sign,Thomas likes to recall an image from the Didache,
developed in the West by Cyprian and then by Augustine,from whom
Thomas derives it:
Our Lord has proffered his Body and his Blood in those things which,
from a multitude, are reduced to unity, since the bread is one single
4 This fact is rarely emphasized in studies,but the reader will be easily convinced
by examining several documents,notably the Decree on the Most Holy Sacrament
of the Eucharist (Session XIII,October 11,1551) in the Preamble,ch.2 and ch.
8,as well as the Teaching on the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (Session XXII,
September 17,1562) in ch.7;cf.Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils,Vol.2,ed.
Norman P.Tanner (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press), 693–97
and 735.
5 Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium,nos.3,11,and 26;Christus Dominus,nos.
11 and 15; Unitatis Redintegratio, nos. 2 and 15.Among the numerous works
devoted to this topic,one can refer to the study of the texts and their sources
(Fathers,liturgy,Magisterium) by Bruno Forte,La Chiesa nell’Eucaristia:Per un’ec-
clesiologia eucaristica alla luce del Vaticano II(Naples:M.D’Auria,1988).
6 Albert the Great,IV Sent. dist.8,a.11–13;Bonaventure,IV Sent.dist.8,pars 2,
a.2,q.1.
The Ecclesial Fruit of the Eucharist 45
reality made of many grains;while the wine is one single [drink] made
of many grapes.7
Here,Thomas echoes Augustine’s commentary on John:“O mystery of
goodness, O sign of unity, O bond of charity!”8 The bread and wine,
which constitute the matter of this sacrament,are here seen as the sign of
that which the Eucharist effects:From a multitude,the Eucharist brings
forth a single reality (ex multis unum).
This first aspect of the Eucharist—which Thomas frequently recalls9—
is not inconsequential,since the sacrament effects that which is represented
or signified,that is,the true Body of Christ and the unity of the mystical
Body.Thus in Thomas,this ecclesial signification serves to show that the
sacrament effectively produces such a grace.10 Other liturgical acts are
mentioned in this context:for example,the commingling of water in the
wine,which signifies the mystical Body,“the uniting of the members to
their Head”or “the uniting of the Christian people to Christ.”11Similarly,
the breaking of the bread signifies the distribution of graces in the Church
and the various states of the mystical Body (glorious,militant,and awaiting
the resurrection).12The ecclesial symbolism associated with food will be
7 Augustine, In Iohannis Evangelium 6:56, tract. 26,17 (Corpus Christianorum,
Series Latina 36,268);Sermo227;272 (PL 38,1100;1247–48).Cf.DidacheIX,4
(Sources Chrétiennes 248,177);Cyprian,Epist.63,13;69,5 (Corpus Christiano-
rum,Series Latina 3C,408–409 and 476–77).See Marie-François Berrouard,“Le
symbolisme du pain et du vin,” in Oeuvres de Saint Augustin,Vol. 72 (Paris:
Desclée de Brouwer,1972),822–23.For the history of this eucharistic symbol,
see Adalbert G.Hamman,Études patristiques (Paris:Beauchesne,1991),93–100.
8 Thomas Aquinas, ST, III q. 79, a. 1; cf. Augustine, In Iohannis Evangelium
6:50–52, tract 26,13 (Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 36, 266); cf. tract.
26,17 (ibid.,268).
9 Thomas Aquinas,IV Sent.dist.8,q.1,a.1,qla 1,arg.2;dist.11,q.1,a.1,qla 1,
arg.2;dist.11,q.2,a.1,qla 2;dist.11,q.2,a.2,qla 1,arg.4;ST, III,q.74,a.1;
q.75,a.2,arg.3;q.79,a.1;q.79,a.2;Catena in Matth.26,lect.7 (Marietti ed.,
1953,384);In Ioan.6:52 (Marietti ed.,#960);Report.ined.Leon.in I Cor.11:23;
In I Cor.11:24 (Marietti ed.,#654),see below,footnotes 79 and 81.
10ST, III,q.79,a.1.This argument is only made after three other reasons,but this
does not necessarily mean that we must interpret it as a marginal or extrinsic
motif as Bruno Forte argues in “Contributo ad uno studio del rapporto fra l’Eu-
caristia e la Chiesa in S.Tommaso d’Aquino,”in Tommaso d’Aquino nel suo settimo
centenario,Vol.4 (Naples:M.D’Auria,1974),409–20,here 410–13.Moreover,this
symbolism is present everywhere in the works of Thomas,right into the office of
Corpus Christi.
11IV Sent.dist.11,q.2,a.4,qla 1;ST,III,q.74,aa.6–7.
12IV Sent.dist.12,q.1,a.3,qla 3,c.et ad 1;ST,III,q.83,a.5,ad 7–9 (on the corpus
triformeof Amalarius).
46 Gilles Emery, OP
further developed with respect to the res of the Eucharist,since through
communion the faithful are transformed into that which they eat:the Body
of Christ. St.Thomas therefore holds firmly to the representing of the
ecclesial reality (the unity of the mystical Body) by the eucharistic species
which,as the sacramental matter,contribute to signifying and producing
the grace of the Eucharist.
The Sacramental Body of Christ (res et sacramentum)
Thomas next emphasizes the ecclesial dimension in relation to the first
effect of the sacrament,which is the corpus verum,the eucharistic Body of
Christ (and his Blood).At the heart of the sacramental organism, the
Eucharist substantially comprises all the treasure, the spiritual good of the
whole Church;it comprises the whole mystery of our salvation.13Thus in his
commentary on the Sentences,Thomas invokes the ecclesial efficacy of the
Eucharist to demonstrate that Christ is truly present there:
It is fitting that there be a sacrament in which Christ is contained not
only by participation,but by his essence,in order that thus the union of
the Head to his members may be perfect (ut sit perfecta coniunctio capitis
ad membra).14The perfection of the sacraments of the New Law demands
that there be a sacrament in which Christ is joined and united to us in
reality (in quo Christus nobis realiter coniungatur et uniatur),and not merely
through participation in his virtue,as in the other sacraments.15
Thomas invokes the same argument to show the fittingness of the insti-
tution of the Eucharist.The Eucharist, considered under the aspect of
the verum corpus, is “the sacrament which, really containing the Head
conformed to his members,unites the mystical Body to its Head.”16
The perfection of the body requires that the members be united to
their head;but by this sacrament the members of the Church are united
to their Head (membra Ecclesiae suo capiti coniunguntur) ...;it was there-
fore necessary that this sacrament be instituted.17
13ST,III,q.65,a.3,ad 1;q.83,a.4;cf.IV Sent.dist.49,q.4,a.3,ad 4.
14IV Sent. dist.10,q.1,a.1 (texts are indicated following the edition of Maria F.
Moos [Paris:Lethielleux,1947]).Thomas receives this approach from Albert the
Great (IV Sent. dist.10,a.1,sed contra 2;ed.Auguste Borgnet,Vol.29,244).In
the Summa theologiae,this specifically ecclesiological argument will be replaced
by a theme drawn from the perfection of the sacrifice of the New Covenant (ST,
III,q.75,a.1).
15IV Sent.dist.9,q.un.,a.1,qla 1.Cf.ibid.,sed contra 2;ST,III,q.65,a.3.
16IV Sent.dist.8,q.1,a.3,qla 2,ad 1.
17IV Sent.dist.8,q.1,a.3,qla 1,sed contra 1.
The Ecclesial Fruit of the Eucharist 47
Insisting on the truth of Christ contained in the Eucharist,Thomas
constantly reminds us that the true Body of Christ is also the sign,the
representation,the likeness,the exemplar,and the figure of his mystical
Body,which is the Church;in other words,it is the sign and the cause of
that which the Eucharist procures.18 He never fails to attribute to the
corpus verum the fundamental structure of the res et sacramentum:The true
Body of Christ is at once signum and res.As sign, the Body of Christ
denotes unity,the gathering of a multitude of members in unity.Eccle-
sial realism appears deeply rooted in eucharistic realism.Thus, showing
the fittingness of the institution of this sacrament,Thomas closely links
the substantial conversion of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood
of Christ (transubstantiation) and our own conversionin Christ who is the
end [finis] of this conversion:19 “It was fitting that this sacrament, in
which the incarnate Word is contained in order to unite us to himself,be
proposed to us under the figure of food,not so that he may be converted
into us by his union with us,but rather so that,by our union with him,
we may be converted into him (nos in ipsum convertens).”20Here we reach
the third level,that of the sacramental grace proper to the Eucharist.
The Fruit of the Eucharist (res tantum)
Thomas formulates the proper effect of the sacrament in terms of nutri-
tion or food (cibus).Here,however,the food is not transformed into the
one who eats it,but rather the one eating is changed (convertitur) into the
food which he eats.This understanding is clearly a development of Augus-
tine’s thought.21The effect proper to the Eucharist,as Thomas expresses it,
is the transformation (transformatio) of man into Christ by love,the trans-
mutation (transmutatio) of the one who eats into the food which is eaten,
our conversio into Christ,a union or adunatio of man to Christ:in other
words,incorporation into Christ.22 Such is the meaning of the communio
or synaxis, which characterizes the Eucharist:“We enter into communion
18All these phrases are Thomas’s own:III Sent.dist.12,q.3,a.1,qla 1,arg.1;dist.
13,q.2,a.2,qla 2,arg.2 and ad 2;IV Sent.dist.12,q.1,a.3,qla 3,ad 1;dist.13,
expositio textus;ST,III,q.82,a.9,obj.2;In Ad Eph.4:13 (Marietti ed.,#217).
19This is not an exaggerated term:the use of the faithful is the end (finis) of this
sacrament (ST,III,q.74,a.2);cf.ST,III,q.74,a.2,ad 2:finis effectus.
20IV Sent.dist.8,q.1,a.3,qla 1;cf.dist.9,q.un.,a.2,qla 4.
21Augustine,ConfessionsVII,X,16,quoted for instance in IV Sent.dist.8,q.1,a.3,
qla 1;ST,III,q.73,a.3,ad 2;In Ioan.6:55 (Marietti ed.,#972).
22IV Sent.dist.8,q.1,a.3,qla 1,ad 3 (transmutari);dist.9,q.un.,a.2,qla 4 (Christo
incorporari);dist.12,q.2,a.1,qla 1(conversio);dist.12,q.2,a.2,qla 1 (transforma-
tio);ibid.,qla 3 (unio);De art.fid.et ecclesiae sacram. II (Leon.ed.,vol.42,255:
adunatio;homo Christo incorporatur);etc.
48 Gilles Emery, OP
with Christ through the Eucharist; we share in his Flesh and in his
Godhead;we enter into communion and are mutually united by it.”23
With St.John Damascene,Thomas likewise speaks in this context of an
“assuming of the divinity of Christ” effected by the Eucharist.24 In
Thomas,the ecclesial dimension of eucharistic grace is present to a remark-
abledegree,as is shown by other expressions which can be collected from
the Summa theologiae. The breadth of Thomas’s vocabulary is worth
noting.He refers to the effect which the Eucharist brings about (the res
signified and not contained) as the mystical Body of Christ (Corpus
Christi mysticum),or the unity of this mystical Body (unitas corporis mystici);
the society of the Body [of Christ] and of his members (societas corporis et
membrorum suorum), the union of the members with the Head, or the
mutual union of the members of Christ with one another;the Church
of the saints and the faithful,the society of the saints (societas sanctorum),
or the Church constituted of diverse faithful (Ecclesia ex diversis fidelibus);
very often:the unity of the Church (unitas ecclesiastica);the unity signified
by the bread and the wine,or simply unity itself;the spiritual nourish-
ment received through union with Christ and his members;peace and
unity (pax et unitas);union with Christ or with God;transformation into
Christ;the unity of the many in Christ (multi unum in Christo);the incor-
poration of people into Christ;the union (unio) or the reunion (adunatio)
of the Christian People with Christ; communion (communicatio) with
Christ and mutual communion of the faithful among each other.25 For
this reason,the Eucharist is called “sacrament of unity (of the Church)”
(sacramentum unitatis [ecclesiasticae]),or “sacrament of unity and of peace”
(sacramentum unitatis et pacis),peace being understood as the union of wills
which charity brings about.26 The Eucharist thus produces the same
effect as did the coming of the Son into our world;it bestows on man all
23ST,III,q.73,a.4;quote from John Damascene,De fide Orthodoxa,c.86,15 [IV,13]
(Burgundio version,ed.Eligius M.Buytaert [New York:Franciscan Institute St.
Bonaventure,1955],317).Cf.IV Sent.dist.8,q.1,a.1,qla 3 (with a text from
Dionysius).
24Ibid.;“the assuming”(metalepsis) is indeed a name for the Eucharist itself.
25All these expressions, a complete list of which would be extremely long, are
collected from the treatise on the Eucharist (ST,III,q.73–83).On this topic,see
Godefridus Geenen,“L’adage Eucharistia est sacramentum ecclesiasticae unionis dans
les oeuvres et la doctrine de S.Thomas d’Aquin,” in La Eucaristía y la Paz,
275–81;Felicísimo Martínez,“La Eucaristía y la unidad de la Iglesia en Santo
Tomás de Aquino,”Studium9 (1969):377–404.
26ST,III,q.67,a.2;q.73,a.2,sed contra;q.73,a.4;q.80,a.5,ad 2;q.82,a.2,arg.
3 and ad 3;q.83,a.4,corpus and ad 3.Cf.Adolph Hoffmann,“Eucharistia ut
sacramentum pacis secundum S.Thomam,”in La Eucaristía y la Paz,163–67.
The Ecclesial Fruit of the Eucharist 49
the goods which Christ gave to the world through his passion;it applies
the work of our redemption.In short,it confers the whole mystery of
our salvation.27
In the same way,Thomas also reserves for the Eucharist the name
“sacrament of charity”(sacramentum caritatis),because it represents charity
and procures a growth in charity,a strengthening of life in the Spirit,and
a most sweet and delectable spiritual refreshment.28The charity procured
by the Eucharist is not limited to the habitus,but extends even to “char-
ity in its act (quantum ad actum) which is stimulated by this sacrament.”29
But we are not speaking here of a reality different from the preceding
one.It is not as though there were an ecclesial effect of the sacrament on
the one hand, and a personal and individual effect on the other hand,
added to or juxtaposed with the first.In fact,the same reality of grace,
that is,the incorporation of the person into Christ,is at once both the
food of personal spiritual refreshment and,by its very nature,the build-
ing up of the Church, whose unity, founded in faith (Baptism), is
strengthened and completed by charity.The close connection between
the personal and ecclesial dimensions of the Eucharist,founded in incor-
poration into Christ,has been particularly well expressed by Cajetan:
When we hear that the fruit (res tantum) of the sacrament is grace,and
that that which is to be received is the unity of the Church or the
mystical Body of Christ,we do not see two separate realities there,since
it is all nothing more than the grace of God in his faithful.30
The Eucharist thus strengthens the unity of the mystical Body by
intensifying man’s union with Christ and the mutual union of the
members.We are now at the heart of Thomas’s vision of the Church.
Baptism,the sacrament of faith,builds up the Church by incorporating
the baptized into Christ and building them into one unified Church.It
effects the initial incorporation into the Church which the Eucharist
nourishes and completes.31 And in Baptism, the unifying power of the
27ST,III,q.79,a.1;q.83,a.1 and 4.
28ST,III,q.73,a.3,ad 3;q.74,a.4,arg.3;q.78,a.3,arg.6 and ad 6;q.79,a.4,ad
3;q.80,a.5,ad 2 (sacrament of charity);cf.q.78,a.3,ad 6:“Hoc autem est
sacramentum caritatis quasi figurativum et effectivum;”ST,III,q.79,a.1,ad 1;q.
81,a.1,ad 3 (increase of habitual grace);ST, III,q.79,a.1,corpus and ad 2;q.
81,a.1,ad 3 (delectation and sweetness);etc.
29ST,III,q.79,a.4.This is the reason for the Eucharist’s effacement of venial sins.
30Cajetan,In Tertiam Partem Summa theologiae,q.73,a.1 (Leon.ed.,Vol.12,139).
31ST,III,q.39,a.6,ad 4;q.73,a.3.See Martin Morard,“L’Eucharistie,clé de voûte
de l’organisme sacramentel chez saint Thomas,”Revue Thomiste 95 (1995):217–50.
50 Gilles Emery, OP
Eucharist is already at work.In fact,of its very nature Baptism contains
the desire or the objective hunger for the Eucharist—not necessarily
proceeding from the psychological conscience—the desire to spiritually
ingest (manducare) Christ, the desire for the transformation into Christ
given in the act of faith completed in charity.32The Eucharist is there-
fore dynamically included in all the other sacraments to such an extent
that without this “objective hunger”for the Eucharist,no effect of grace
can be obtained.To put it another way, the hunger for the Eucharist
belongs organically to salvation.33 A profound reason for this truth is
supplied by the res of the Eucharist:“The effect of this sacrament is the
unity of the mystical Body without which salvation cannot exist.”34 At
this deep level,the fullness of the fruit of the Eucharist is identical with
the Church.Thomas can therefore explain:
Since in spiritually eating the Flesh of Christ and in spiritually drink-
ing his Blood we become participators in the Church’s unity which
is caused by charity [. . .], he who does not eat thus is outside the
Church and consequently outside charity,and therefore does not have
life in himself.35
In Thomas, this close connection between Church and Eucharist is
supported by two major theological motifs.The first pertains to the
sacraments.Thomas sees the efficacy of the sacraments and the grace
given through them as a function of incorporation into Christ:It is by
incorporating man into Christ (and thus building up the Church) that
the sacraments and the Eucharist produce the life of grace.The second
motif pertains to Thomas’s understanding of the Church as essentially
subsisting in the life of Christ’s grace given by the Holy Spirit;that is,
faith operating through charity.36 It is therefore in terms of faith and
charity that Thomas illumines what it means to belong to the Church
and explains its unity, just as it is in terms of faith and charity that he
explains the fruit of the grace of the Eucharist.Both the Church and the
32ST, III,q.73,a.3.Texts and analyses on this topic are found in Jean-Marie R.
Tillard,“Le votum Eucharistiae:l’Eucharistie dans la rencontre des chrétiens,”in
Miscellanea Liturgica in onore di S.E.il Cardinale Giacomo Lercaro,Vol.2 (Rome-
Paris:Desclée,1967),143–94.
33ST,III,q.80,a.11:“Et ideo sine voto percipiendi hoc sacramentum,non potest
hominiessesalus.”
34ST,III,q.73,a.3:“Res sacramenti est unitas corporis mystici,sine qua non potest
essesalus.”
35In Ioan.6:54 (Marietti ed.,no.969).
36Yves Congar,“L’idée de l’Église chez saint Thomas d’Aquin,”in Idem,Esquisses
du Mystère de l’Église (Paris:Cerf,1941),59–91.
The Ecclesial Fruit of the Eucharist 51
Eucharist are seen under the aspect of incorporation into Christ.Thus,
commenting on John 6:57,Thomas designates the fruit of the Eucharist
(the res signata tantum) as “incorporation into the mystical Body by the
union of faith and charity.”37 Likewise,in his homilies on the Credo,for
example,Thomas explains the unity of the Church by means of faith,
hope, and charity, the three theological virtues on which this unity is
founded,and through which it is procured.38 Here we find a profound
“osmosis” between the interior dimension of the mystery and its
accomplishment through the rite,achieved by an inclusion of the sacra-
mental world and the nature of the Church with respect to the theo-
logical virtues.
Christology and Pneumatology
The power of the Eucharist,Thomas explains, derives primarily and
principally from the fact that it contains the Word made flesh,39 into
whom the one who communicates spiritually is “converted.”As we have
seen,this personal and ecclesial effect has as its sign and cause the double
level of the sacramentum tantum (the eucharistic species with the words of
consecration) and the res et sacramentum (the true Body of Christ),these
two elements coming together in the unity of the sacrament itself (the
first only concurring in producing grace by virtue of the second).40
More precisely—leaving aside here the universal value of the Eucharist
as sacrifice offered,which deserves to be considered on its own—it is the
spiritual ingestion of the Body and the Blood of Christ which produces
this spiritual effect:“The unity of the mystical Body is the fruit of the
true Body of Christ which was received.”41
Thomas bases his teaching on numerous scriptural passages, notably
John 6:57 [6:56] (“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains
in me,and I in him”) and I Cor 10:17 (“Since there is one single bread,
we are one single Body,all we who have part in this single bread”).42 He
also highlights the theme of the Church’s birth from the side of the
37In Ioan.6:57 (Marietti ed.,no.976);cf.In Ioan.6:64 (Marietti ed.,no.993).
38In Symbolum Apostolorum Expositio,art.9 (Marietti ed.,no.973–975);cf.ST, III,
q.8,a.3.
39ST,III,q.79,a.1:“Effectus huius sacramenti debet considerari,primo quidem et
principaliter,ex eo quod in hoc sacramento continetur,quod est Christus”;cf.
In Ioan.6:55 (Marietti ed.,no.973).
40IV Sent.dist.8,q.1,a.1,qla 1,ad 2.
41ST, III, q. 82, a. 9, ad 2:“Unitas corporis mystici est fructus corporis veri
percepti.”
42See for instance IV Sent.dist.8,q.1,a.3,qla 1,sed contra;ST,III,q.73,a.2,sed
contra;q.74,a.1;q.75,a.1;In Ioan.,c.6,lect.7.
52 Gilles Emery, OP
crucified Christ,from which flow water and blood (John 19:34),43repre-
senting the sacraments by which the Church is built (fabricata),instituted
(instituta), consecrated (consecrata), or saved (salvata).44 The effect of the
Eucharist is that of Jesus’ passion, whence the sacraments acquire their
efficacy and to whose fruits they give access.45Church and sacrament are
here inextricably tied by their source:“Christ has suffered his passion,out
of charity,in order to unite himself to the Church as a spouse.”46
In order to illuminate the transforming and unifying power of the
Eucharist,Thomas also draws on the explanation of Cyril of Alexandria
which defends the incarnation of the Word with respect to the passion
of Jesus:
The life-giving Word of God,uniting himself to his own Flesh,makes
it life-giving as well.It was thus fitting that he should unite himself in
a certain way to our bodies by his holy Flesh and by his precious Blood
which we receive as a living benediction in the bread and wine.47
The Eucharist derives its power from the life-giving power of the
Flesh of the incarnate Word.In the Eucharist,the life-giving Flesh of the
Logos comes to unite itself to our own, to confer on it immortal life.
Having sanctified his own Flesh, the Word sanctifies the believer who,
through spiritual and sacramental communion, unites himself to this
divinized Flesh of Christ.This fundamental reference to the Word appears
43We have found eight occurrences of this theme in the treatise on the Eucharist
in the Tertia pars:q.74,a.6;q.74,a.7,arg.2,c.,ad 2 and ad 3;q.74,a.8,arg.1
and corpus;q.79,a.1.
44All these expressions are Thomas’s own:IV Sent.dist.1,q.1,a.4,qla 3,sed contra
1;dist.18,q.1,a.1,qla 1;ST, I, q.92,a.3;ST, III,q.62,a.5,sed contra;q.64,
a.2,ad 3;q.66,a.3,arg.3 and ad 3;q.66,a.4,arg.3 and ad 3;In Ioan. 19:34
(Marietti ed., no. 2458). For the many patristic sources of this theme (which
Thomas develops especially with reference to Augustine and Chrysostom),see
Sebastian Tromp,“De nativitate Ecclesiae ex corde Iesu in Cruce,”Gregorianum
13 (1932):489–527;Alban A.Maguire,Blood and Water:The Wounded Side of Christ
in Early Christian Literature (Washington,D.C.:Catholic University of America
Press,1958).
45ST,III,q.62,a.5;cf.IV Sent.dist.8,q.1,a.1,qla 3;ST,III,q.79,a.1:“Et ideo
effectum quem passio Christi fecit in mundo,hoc sacramentum facit in homine.”
46IV Sent.dist.26,q.2,a.1,ad 3:“...caritatem,per quam pro Ecclesia sibi in spon-
sam coniungenda passus est”(about marriage;Vivès ed.,Vol.11,72).
47ST,III,q.79,a.1.Thomas quotes this passage more at length in Catena in Lucam
22:19 (Marietti ed.,1953,286);cf.Cyril,In Lucam22:19 (PG 72,907–912).On
this topic,see Jean-Marie R.Tillard,L’Eucharistie Pâque de l’Église (Paris:Cerf,
1964),60–83.